Roofing device and method



Feb. 17, 1970 B. R. WHITE 3,495,373

300mm DEVICE AND ummon Filed April 14, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 l. i" F INVENTOR BOYCE ROBE/2T WHITE A TTORNEVS Feb. 17, 1970 B. R. WHITE 3,495,373

ROOFING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed April 14, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4 INVENTOR some ROBERT WHITE A TTOIZNEVS Feb. 17, 1970 B. R. WHITE ROOFING DEVICE AND METHOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 14, 1969 FIG. 6

FIG. 8

TORNEYS Feb. 17, 1970 B. R. WHITE 3,495,373

ROOFING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed April 14, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR BOYCE ROBERT WHITE United States Patent ROOFING DEVICE AND METHOD Boyce Robert White, Orlando, Fla., assignor to Boyce Robert White, Inc., Orlando, Fla., a corporation of Florida Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 599,168, Dec. 5, 1966. This application Apr. 14, 1969, Ser. No. 815,801 Int. Cl. E04d /02 US. Cl. 52-748 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Roofing materials are applied by a device which has a notched bar extending from the ridge of a roof down towards the eaves. An elongated guide having a triangular section extending parallel to the line of shingles to be laid receives a row of shingles or the like in a generally upright position. The guide has three support shelves 120 apart with pins extending therefrom which cooperate with notches in the bar when the guide is rotated to lay a row of shingles and to receive the next row of shingles. As the guide is rotated up the slope of the roof succeeding rows of shingles are laid and held under the guide for fasten- .Cross references to related applications This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 599,168 having a filing date of Dec. 5, 1966, to issue as US. Patent No. 3,438,170 on Apr. 15, 1969.

Background and summary of the invention This invention relates to a mechanism and method of applying roofing materials to a roof. More particularly, .this invention relates to a guide device which receives and lays a row of shingles, and to a method for applying the shingles so as to be properly spaced and conveniently fastenedonaroof. "f p j- One of the current trade practices of shingling a sloped roof with a popular twelve by thirtysix inch asphalt strip shingle is ,to strike chalk lines horizontally every ten inches from the eaves to the ridge. Vertical'lines are struck on the roof often enough to assure properyertical alignment of the shingle slots or 'cut outs The first row 'or course of shingles iscorrectly placed by aligning the butts of the shingles at the bottom of the roof along the eavesdrip. Thesecond course of shingles is aligned by holding the top of each shingle along the first horizontal chalk line. The third course is aligned holding the butts of the shingles flush with the top of the five inch cutouts of the shingles ,of the preceding course. The fourth course is aligned along the second horizontal chalk line and so on. The foregoing applies to the conventional asphalt strip shingles Which .measure twelve inches from top to bottom and which overlap one another seven inches when fastened to a roof. Such shingles are normally a yard long with two five-inch long vertical slots or cutouts at their lower portions. Every course of shingles is offset or staggered from the preceding row by six inches.

Vertical chalk lines are struck in parallel pairs, one line being spaced from the other line in a pair by six inches 3,495,373 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 so that succeeding courses are staggered six inches when alternate courses are aligned with one chalk line and intervening courses are aligned with the second chalk line. The first course of shingles is laid double and succeeding courses are each laid to present a five inch exposure. Each shingle is normally fastened to the roof with nails or staples, one nail or staple being placed about one inch above each slot or cutout, and one nail or staple at each end of the shingle to provide four nails or staples to hold each shingle.

There are several serious disadvantages of current roofing practices which are overcome by the present invention. First, the present practice is time consuming and fatiguing to workers doing the shingling. Each chalk line and each shingle must be placed individually and each shingle must be held individually in alignment with reference to a chalk mark when being fastened. Generally, all of these steps are carried out in the kneeling or squatting position. A house of normal size will require eight hours or more to shingle when the work is done by at least two skilled tradesmen.

The present invention eliminates much of the drudgery of shingling, saves considerable time and can be practiced by practically anyone using a simple device. This device includes notched guide bar means which is placed and firmly held vertically on a sloping roof surface. An elongated member having three or four sides is provided with a like number of extensions and pins or the like to cooperate with the notches on the guide bar means. This elongated member is used to receive and suupport a row of shingles in a generally upright position. As the elongated member is rotated and travels up the slope of the roof, rows of shingles placed in a row end-to-end on a support extending from the elongated member are successively laid on the surface of the roof in proper alignment. The pins of the elongated member fit in the notches of the guide means to hold the elongated member in correct register while the previously laid row of shingles is fastened to the roof. The notches may be individually wider than the pins in which case the pins are spaced apart by a distance greater than the distancec between notches. Thus, when the elongated member is rotated so that a pin moves out of a notch, there is a rearward relative motion of the elongated member which assists in its disengagement from the row of shingles just laid.

In the three-sided embodiment, the pins are displaced from one another by about the axis of rotation of the elongated member. This permits a slight forward movement of the support for the shingles as the rotation of the elongated member is completed prior to fastening the shingles to the roof. Thus, if the shingles fall on the roof somewhat unevenly, this forward movement serves to align the bottom edges of the shingles prior to fastening.

.Stop plates six inches wide are secured to the elongated member. They have a thickness slightly less than the shingles to be used thereon and are spaced thirty inches apart (thirty-six inches center-to-center). These serve to align a plurality of shingles placed on the support shelf of the elongated member into a row when the plurality is stacked at one end thereof and moved along the elongated member to the other end, each stop member stopping the bottom shingle as its edge comes into register therewith. If a pack of shingles is started from the other end of the elongated member, the resulting row is displaced by six inches from the first-mentioned row.

In view of the foregoing, the broad object of the present invention is to overcome difiiculties experienced in the current practices of shingling sloped roofs and to provide a more economical, eflicient and effective method and apparatus to accomplish the same function. Other objects, adaptabilities and capabilities will appear as the description progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a roof being shingled with the device of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the device of FIG- URE 1 showing a row of shingles being supported and held upright preparatory to being laid in a course on a roof while the preceding course is 'being held in position for bonding to the roof;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a four sided elongated member;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of one of the corners of the elongated member shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a shingle section;

FIGURE 6 is an elevation of a three-sided elongated member and the guide bar as seen in a down roof direction;

FIGURE 7 is aside view of the three-sided elongated member and guide bar with the end plates removed;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the three-sided elongated member and guide bar;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of a roof being shingled with the modified device of the invention; and

FIGURE 10 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG URE 7 of the modified device for illustrating the relative movement of the device through 120 of rotation.

Description of the preferred embodiments In FIGURE 1, the roof 1 has already been shingled with several courses of shingles 3 and a complete vertical pass of shingles at the left. A horizontal rod 5 is fastened along the ridge of the roof and supports one or more guide bars 7. It is preferred to use two guide bars which are vertically placed on the roof parallel to each other. As seen in FIGURE 2, each guide bar 7 is provided with a series of notches 9 which are spaced apart by a predetermined distance depending on the dimensions of the shingles being laid. The guide bars are best fashioned from extruded aluminum channel bars, but wood, steel or other materials can be used. With asphalt strip shingles twelve inches wide, the distance between the center of each notch is five inches so that each course of shingles will overlap or be overlapped by its neighboring course by seven inches.

The eaves drip 11 is used to position the guide bar 7 correctly when an eave stop guide 13 on bar 7 is abutted against drip 11. As indicated with reference to FIG- URE 1, a horizontal rod 5 is fastened to the ridge of the roof and guide bar 7 suspended from rod 5. For extra convenience and safety, one or more swivel straps may be fastened to the roof to provide extra support for the guide bar 7. Straps 15 are fastened to the roof deck so as to swivel outwardly from underneath the shingle tabs without damaging them. Also, openings for nails may be provided in the bottom surfaces of guide bars 7 for direct attachment to the roof deck.

Referring again to FIGURE 2, an elongated member 17 is used to position and to hold shingles 19 of the course to be next laid upright before they are laid on the roof and at the same time to hold the just laid shingles 19a against the roof deck for bonding thereto. Elongated member 17 has an even number of sides 21 (FIGURE 3) which has certain advantages as will be explained hereafter. Each side 21 is provided with support means, preferably in the form of a curved or bent-up portion which extends as a lip 25 along the entire length of each side. At one or preferably both ends 23 of the elongated member 17, one or more pins 27 are provided to extend from lips 25 beyond the ends of elongated member 17. Thus, each corner of each end 23 of elongated member 17 has a pin 27, the pins 27 tained in the ends of lips 25 as shown.

Elongated member 17, as shown in FIGURES 15, is square in cross-section with each side (pin 27 to pin 27) being five inches wide.

Indicia in the form of straight lines approximately twelve inches apartare provided On each side of the elongated member 17 for aligning the shingles. The indicia lines on neighboring sides are offset from one another by six inches. In FIGURE 4 it will be noted that each lip 25 holds a pin 27 and at the bottom of each, a stop 29 is located. Each stop 25 is generally located at the outside of the indicia lines 31. Thus, the stops 29 associated with neighboring sides of member 17 are olfset with respect to one another by about six inches. A row of shingles 19 abuts stop 29 at one end' so that a being re- I course of shingles stand in an upright side-by-side row as seen in FIGURE 2. Each next and succeeding row of shingles will therefore be staggered as elongated member 17 i rotated to travel up guide bar 7.

FIGURE 5 shows a strip shingle 33 which has three tabs divided by the two cutouts 35.

When such conventional strip shingles are used, further indicia lines 32 can be spaced along the lips 25 at appropriate intervals to indicate to the worker operating a stapler 40 the location he is to actuate the stapler which preferably should be just above each cutout 35 and slightly in from each side of the shingle where it joins the adjacent shingle of the course. Thus, there are four staples to each shingle and the indicia lines are approximately twelve inches apart.

It will be appreciated that as elongated member 17 is rotated, a row of shingles 19a is laid down to overlap the top seven inches of a preceding course of shingles 19b. Upon rotation of elongated member 17, a pin 27 is rotated in a notch 9 and another pin 27 falls into the next notch 9 above, with a row of shingles being dropped at the same time and held in position on the roof for fastening.

The elongated member 17 has an even number of sides so that the courses of shingles are alternately staggered by means of a single stop 29 in each lip 25 to be laid as seen in FIGURE 1. As illustrated herein, elongated member 17 has four sides of substantially equal width and each side at the ends of elongated member 17 has pin means 27 to be received in notches 9 of guide bar 7. The elongated member 17 is conventionally made of a single piece of sheet aluminum, steel or other material which is bent into a column so as to be square in cross-section. Each corner of the column is crimped so than an elongated lip of, say, one-half inch in width,

' is provided along the edgeof the column. The lip is further bent upwardly and a pin 27 is scured to each corner at the ends of the column. A convenient length for the column is' nineteen feet so that six shingles each three feet long, are supported in the lip 25 to abut one another and, as previously indicated, the next row of shingles is offset by six inches. 'Also, with a column nineteen feet long, sufficient space is left to allow for the interlocking of adjacent shingles when laid.

It will be understood that a primary advantage of having an elongated member 17 with four sides is so that shingles may be conveniently laid in an alternating pattern as shown in the drawings. But, as will be hereafter described, an elongated member can be provided with an odd number of sides and serve much the same advantage by using a different method to obtain the shingle offset. Also, of course, it should be kept in mind that joints of shingles are offset from neighboring courses so that water can be properly shed. In certain types of applications, the offsetting of neighboring courses thus may not be necessary.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that a member such as elongated member 17 can be made in sections which telescope. Thus, one or more male sections can be made to fit within a female section from one or both sides to allow for adjustments in the length of the member 17.

It will also be understood that the term shingle as used herein means a shingle section or other roofing materials which can be laid on a roof in proper alignment. Thus all types of shingles in addition to sheathing, felts and roll roofing are applicable.

In operation, the description herein given applies principally with shingles on straight runs although an application of the concepts expressed herein will be useful in shingling hips, valleys and other roof surfaces. It has been found that a roof which normally requires two men eight or more hours to shingle, can be completed in about one-third of that time by the same number of workers using this invention. Also, one man can work more efiiciently with the present invention than is the case using prior practices.

In operation, the first course of double-layered shingles is laid at the bottom of the roof with guide bars 7 aligned with eavesdrip as seen in FIGURE 1. It will be understood that guide bars 7 extend beyond the eaves of the roof to permit application of the first row of shingles. Then, asphalt shingles are positioned end-to-end in the lip 25 of elongated member 17 and it is rotated about the leading pin 27 to pivot about a five-inch radius from notch 9. The second row of shingles is laid on the roof with the upper seven-inch portions exposed for fastening. With elongated member 17 held firmly in correct alignment by the two bottom pins 27 in notches 9, the first worker loads another upright row of shingles into lip 25 while a second worker fastens the previously laid shingles to the roof deck. Many shingles are not manufactured to exact specifications and the first worker abuts the first shingle against stop 29 in lip 25 and thereafter adjust the other five shingles to compensate for irregular shingles. The second worker at the same time uses a pneumatic stapler 40 (FIGURE 2) with a handle 41 and stands upright. In fact, both workers shingle a roof while largely in an upright position without constantly kneeling or squatting as in past practice. It will also be appreciated that the stapler 40 can rest on elongated member 17 and be slid along that member which acts as a guide. Elongated member 17 also holds the last laid course of shingles in place while fastening is accomplished. In current practice, especially on roofs with steep slopes, it is necessary to hold each shingle in place while fastening same. The indicia lines 31 or 32 or both serve to indicate the location of previously laid shingles as well as to indicate the location each staple is to be inserted.

Although the four-sided elongated member 17 has certain advantages as outlined, it has been found that unexpected advantages are possible and by use of an spaced apart by thirty inches along elongated member .42, each stop plate being six inches wide. A ratchet memelongated member having a triangular cross-section together with a guide bar having expanded notches. Thus, referring now to FIGURES 6-10, it will be noted that a triangular elongated member 42 includes three support members 44, each of which has suflicient width to receive a pack of approximately six shingles. The support 44 includes an upright straight member 45- at its end. At each end of the straight member 45 there is an enlarged portion 46, in which is journalled a pin or extension 47 which rotatably receives a roller 48 at its outward end. An inner plate 51 which is affixed to the end of elongated member 42, an outer plate 52, which is spaced outwardly of plate 51 and afiixed thereto by extensions 47, extensions 47, and a rib 56 of guide bar 55 comprise a coupling member 54, which serves to couple the elongated member 42 to the notched guide bar 55, the notched rib 56 being received between plates 51 and 52.

A stop plate 57 is bolted or otherwise affixed to the elongated member 42. Thirty inches from stop plate 57 a further stop plate 60 is similarly secured to the elongated member 42 and still further stop plates 60 are ber 61 is secured to the outer plate 52 and is provided with a handle 62 for rotating the elongated member 42 when appropriate.

Referring now to FIGURE 7, it will be noted that the notched guide bar 55 is laid on a slanting roof 64. The notches 65 are wider than the extensions 47. However, they measure from like end to like end five inches as was the case with the previously described embodiment. The arrow 66 represents the motion taken by the after extension 47 when the elongated member 42 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as shown in the figure. This permits a spin back so that the rearward upright member 45 is cleared of the shingle course that has just been stapled. v

The relative motion of elongated member 42 through continuation of its rotation may be understood with reference to FIGURE 10 wherein dot-dash lines have been utilized to indicate the various positions of the elongated member and shingles after the rotation has commenced. The shingle in the initial position of the elongated member 42 is denoted by reference number 67. Immediately after the spin back just described occurs, the elongated member 42 is in the position indicated by 42a and the shingle is in position 67a. As the rotation of the elongated member continues to the position indicated by dot-dash lines 4212, the shingle commences to fall forward as indicated by dot-dash lines 67b. When the shingle falls to the position indicated by 670 in dot-dash lines it may, due to the shingles momentum resulting from its descent, not be flush against the support member 44. However, support member 44 continues to pivot forwardly about extension 47 so that it eventually moves against and aligns each of the shingles in the position 67c as elongated member 42 is brought to position 42c as shown in FIGURE 10.

This final motion, which is termed as take up, pushes all the shingles slightly forward and, in practice, leaves them in a perfectly straight line.

The shingles 67 are generally placed on the elongated member 42 in packs of six. They are then moved as illustrated in FIGURE 9 to the opposite side and each time the lower shingle 67 contacts a stop plate 60, its sidewise motion is terminated and it is retained in such position. By this means each of the shingles 67 is placed in a row wherein the shingles 67 are equal distance apart centerto-center.

The upright straight member 45 provides a guide for an automatic fastening means comprising a stapler gun 70v which is mounted on rollers which permit it to be rolled over the just laid shingles 72 and also it has further rollers 71 which bear against the upright member 45. The stapler gun 70 is thus, in effect, rolled along the upright member 45 and the individual shingles 72 are stapled in place at four locations as described with reference to the previous embodiment.

It will be understood that notched guide bars 55 are provided at both ends of the elongated member 42 as are coupling members 57. It is thus only necessary to secure one of the guide bars 55 firmly to the roof and the other guide bar 55 may be secured only to prevent its vertical movement relative to the roof since it is retained parallel to the other guide bar 55 by the tracking effect of the coupling members 54 in any event.

The extensions 47 are spaced about the axis of rotation of the elongated member 42 by It will be understood that the ratchet 61 is centered on the axis of rotation of the elongated member 42. Other details of construction and elements which are conventionaland generally widely known have not been described in detail in those instances where it has not been considered necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by persons skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I describe as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

I 1. A device for laying shingles and the like on a roof which comprises notched guide bar means to be placed on a sloped roof; a rotatable elongated shingle positioning means in cooperative association with said guide bar means; extensions from an outer end of said shingle positioning means for insertion in the notches of said guide bar means; and three support means incorporated in said shingle positioning means for receiving shingles, said support means being disposed approximately 120 apart about the longitudinal axis of rotation of said shingle positioning means, whereby said shingle positioning means can be rotated to lay down shingles and said extensions are accommodated in said notches of said guide bar means. 2. A device in accordance with claim 1 having a pair of guide bar means adapted to be located on said roof adjacent each end of said shingle positioning means.

3. A device in accordance with claim 2- including coupling means at an end of said shingle positioning means adapted to cooperate With said guide bar means for re taining said guide bar means and said shingle positioning means in substantial alignment.

4. A device in accordance with claim 3 wherein one of said guide bar means is secured rigidly to the roof and the other of said guide bar means is retained in transverse alignment by said coupling means.

5. A device in accordance with claim 3 wherein said coupling means includes a pair of plate means and a rib from said guide bar means received between said plate means.

6. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said shingle positioning means includes a triangular section, said support means extending therefrom.

7. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said shingle positioning means has stop plates secured thereto for positioning shingles laterally thereon.

8. A device in accordance with claim 1 in combination with automatic fastening means adapted to slide along said support means and secure shingles to the roof.

9. A device in accordance with claim 1' including ratchet means at one end of said shingle positioning means adapted to rotate same.

10. A device in accordance with claim 1 including roller means rotatably secured to the end of said extensions.

11. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said extensions extend from said support means, said notches being wider than said extensions whereby when said shingle positioning means is rotated so that a rear wardly disposed extension is withdrawn from a relatively rearward said notch with a forward extension in a relatively forward said notch, said relatively rearward support means is movable sufliciently to the rear to facilitate its disengagement with shingles originally positioned on the roof from said relatively rearward support means.

12. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the forward of said support means is adapted to move in an are relative to its adjacent extension when said shingle positioning means rotate, the terminal portion of said are being forward with respect to said roof whereby the bottom edges of the shingles engaged by said forward support means are aligned.

13. A method of laying a plurality of shingles on a sloping roof which comprises the steps of positioning a plurality of unfastened shingles in a row in generally upright and end-to-end relation along a substantially straight line above said roof;

rotatings said row of shingles about a common edge thereof thereby causing said row of shingles to descend together on said roof, and

,moving a straight member into contact with each of the lower edges of said shingles to align same on-said roof, fastening said row of shingles to said roof. 14. A method in accordance with claim 13 which com- Drises the further step of positioning a succeeding row of unfastened shingles in a generally upright position above said first-mentioned row of shingles to overlap same, causing said succeeding row of shingles to descend together on said roof to overlap said first mentioned row of shingles,

fastening said succeeding row of shingles in place on said roof.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said step of fastening said row of shingles to said roof includes the steps of:

advancing said straight member to a predetermined position above said row of shingles;

moving an automatic fastening device along said row while bearing against said straight member; and actuating said fastening means to bond said row of shingles to said roof as it moves along said row.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,892,192 6/1959 Thyer 52748 3,245,192 4/ 1966 Hilson 52748 3,245,773 4/1966 Hodgkins 198211 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, March 1956, page 212.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

u NITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT N0. ,395,373

DATED July 26, 1983 mvmrorust Robert Loqin It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that sard Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown betow:

In the Specification, column 3, at the bottom of the page, the formula should read as follows:

0 (n) O O H (ocH cH )l}1tCH CH 0) 1 X (OCH CH '(CH CH O) X-I|JOH R OH n R OH Signed and Scaled this Twenrierh Day Of December1983 |SEAL| Arrest:

GERALD J. MOSSINCHOFF Arresting Officer Commissioner of Pamns and Trademarks 

